Give me a chance: Mehbooba

Give me a chance: Mehbooba
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Highlights

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Saturday and discussed the situation in the Valley, which has been under curfew for last 50 days following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

​New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Saturday and discussed the situation in the Valley, which has been under curfew for last 50 days following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

"I appeal to all the boys who are out on the street, to everyone. I may have got angry with you and you may be angry with me, but give me a chance," Mehbooba said at the end of a 45-minute-long meeting. "PM Modi is concerned about the situation in Kashmir," she said.

"We want to save our children of Jammu and Kashmir. Everyone wants bloodshed to stop. But dialogue can only happen with those who want it... I appeal to the Hurriyat to help in getting peace back in on the streets, to stop the killings," she said.

The Chief Minister has also said that separatists will have to decide if they wanted to hold talks with the government to break the “cycle of violence.” “They (the separatists) have to decide if they want to talk. On one side, you tell youth to attack security forces and army camps... Talks should be held with those who want peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue. For others, it is a business. Those who provoke people and cause bloodshed don’t want talks,” she said.

She appealed to the separatists for peace, saying they “will have to help us save the lives” of the youth. Sixty-nine people have been killed and thousands injured in clashes between stone-pelting protesters and security forces since Wani’s death on July 8 as her government faced criticism over the handling of the demonstrations.

At the meeting with the PM, Mehbooba reportedly sought the creation of a group of interlocutors to hold talks with all stakeholders, lashing out at Pakistan for stoking violence. She also asked for a group of interlocutors who will talk to all stakeholders in Kashmir to carry forward former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s policy of dialogue with all parties, including Pakistan.

Sources said Mufti feels that separatists should be allowed hold their protest rallies, but the Centre wants to go slow on this. Sources in J&K’s ruling People’s Democratic Party said Mehbooba advocated before the PM a three-pronged action plan, including the “involvement of separatists in substantive dialogue”.

“The Prime Minister is very concerned about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir like we all are. It is a matter of concern for everyone. The Prime Minister wants this bloodshed to end so that the state comes out of the present turmoil,” she told reporters.

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